Many a Gray sky
by S. Solstace
Summary: Rumplestiltskin is confronted one evening by a man from his past, an ageless man by the name of Dorian Gray...
1. Chapter 1

_It's been a very long time since I read the book The Picture of Dorian Gray; so please excuse me if there are errors concerning the story! May contain spoilers for the book (actually, most likely will). As I do not own a copy of the book the painting is not described exactly as it was in the book. So I tried my best to describe an extremely hideous painting (with as many details from the book as I could remember)._

_ ANYWAY, I do not own the Picture of Dorian Gray or Once Upon a Time. _

Chapter one

It was around five-forty in the evening. Rumpelstiltskin, or Mr. Gold, stood alone in his pawnshop, waiting. He looked up at the clock _ten minutes late. _He thought, _you'd think that someone who was so insistent on seeing a certain item that he made an appointment would arrive on time! _

Gold had received a phone call earlier that day from a man asking if he could make an appointment for 5:30 that evening, citing he needed to see an object of his.

"Well," Gold had responded, "what would that object be?" The man on the other end did not respond, except with "just…a painting…"

"Which one? I have a few." Asked Gold, curiously.

"Maybe you don't have it..." Muttered the other man

"If you're not going to tell me which painting you want, then all I can promise is that I'll be in the shop at 5:30. However if someone wants the painting, I will sell it." Said Gold, "what is your name?"

"Just call me Gray."

"Alright, _Gray_, I'll see you at 5:30."

…

And as Gold was thinking about this, the door swung open, slamming into the wall beside it with a _crack! _"Rumpelstiltskin?" Asked a deep, male voice from the door,

Mr. Gold, the owner looked up at him. "Hello…" his eyes narrowed as he realized who it was. The man looked to be about twenty-one years of age and was tall and thin with blonde hair and a chiseled jaw. He wore a black long coat over a white shirt, and a pair of grey pants. His pale skin was without blemish or scar, and his eyes were a startling shade of bright blue.

"Oh" muttered Gold, "It's you." He looked the young man up and down, "you haven't aged a day."

"Thanks to you" said the man, a wintry smile plastered onto his perfect face.

"It was your wish, not mine" said Gold, returning the smile. He shook his head "Mr. Dorian Gray, I had a feeling that was you on the other end… what is your business with me?

Dorian's blue eyes narrowed "my painting..." He snarled, staring directly into the eyes of the smaller man standing before him.

"Painting..." Gold's lips twisted into a sneer, "ah, yes." He turned around, "I've been keeping it in the back." he said as he rifled through a stack of square objects, all wrapped in similar brown paper. Dorian shrunk a bit when he said that, clearly that comment has stung quite a bit. "Aha, here it is," Said Gold.

He put the tall brown object on top of a glass cabinet. It was labeled "Dorian Gray" in shaky letters. "You don't have to open it…" Muttered Dorian, staring down at the painting.

"Oh, but I'm curious." Said Gold simply, pulling at some of the brown paper, "It's been several years since either of us looked at it, isn't that right?"

"Fine" said Dorian through clenched teeth, "open it." He placed a hand on his forehead, as if he had a severe headache.

Gold cast off the brown paper, and gave a small gasp. This painting, supposedly of Dorian, looked nothing like the handsome young man standing before him. Not only was this a picture of a very, very old man, but also a very withered and horrible one.

This Dorian had so many wrinkles that it was hard to tell what was holding him to together. Stringy gray and white hair grew in long matted tufts out of the sides of his head. His face bore a crooked sneer, and was covered boils. Third degree burns and several unsightly scars tore through his face. Any teeth that were still in his mouth were brown or black; the suit he wore was torn and covered in barnacles and mold. His left hand was stained with glistening, red, blood, and both had long yellow fingernails protruding from bent and broken fingers. The floor was covered in spoiled food and wine.

"Hideous" said Gold.

"Happy now?" Growled Dorian, still refusing to look at the painting, "now, cover it; just cover it!" He shouted.

Gold finally threw the shroud back over the grotesque on the table. Then looked up at Dorian "you've been a bad boy again I see…"

"Shut up!" Shouted Dorian, calming himself down, he stared at Gold. "There's another reason why I'm here." Gold gave him a look, as if to say "go on."

Dorian removed the black glove from his left hand, and placed the hand on the counter. "…Ah" was all that Gold said.

The hand was withered and warts covered the palm. Most of the fingers appeared to be broken at least twice; the fingernails were yellow and sharp. A prominent cygnet ring rested on his middle finger. This was the hand of a withered, horrible, and very, very old man.

"I'm aging" said Dorian, a hint of fear in his eyes.

"When did this start?" Asked Gold,

"About a week ago liver spots began to appear and it's progressed ever since." Responded Dorian, "this wasn't supposed to happen Rumple!"

"No, you're absolutely right" Replied Gold, "let's take another look at that painting, shall we?" He removed the paper from the painting, this time Dorian looked. "Aha" muttered Gold, pointing at a portion in the upper right-hand corner of the painting, "the paint is beginning to fade."

"What!?" Shouted Dorian,

"It's an old painting, friend, it was only a matter of time, and you've had quite a bit of it." Replied Gold as calmly as he could.

"This wasn't part of our deal!"

"The deal was that the painting ages instead of you; but if there is no painting, you will become that" he pointed at the hideous man in the painting.

"Can't you preserve it?" Demanded Dorian,

"I can preserve it the same way all paintings are preserved, but if I tried to return it to its original form, I would probably destroy it accidentally." Replied Gold,

"Isn't there anything you can do!?" Shouted Dorian,

"There is something I can do for that hand-or I could leave you to age, like every other human being."

"Please…"

The door swung open, and a skinny blonde woman stood near the door. "Gold-"she said as she entered, and then she saw Dorian. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked

"Certainly not Miss" replied Dorian, quickly covering his hand with the glove "I was just leaving." He turned to Gold and whispered "bring whatever you have to, come to my home tomorrow after the store closes, here's my address." He slid Gold a business card, "see you tomorrow."

He turned on his heel and strutted out of the shop, winking at the woman as he left.

The woman stared at Gold for a moment "who was that?" She asked,

"His name is Dorian Gray" replied Gold. "Behind his boyish good-looks he's a very dangerous man." He walked nonchalantly behind the counter, "now Miss Swan, what can I do for you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the review (you know who you are)! This chapter sums up in a nutshell why this thing is rated T (well, it's Dorian Gray, so, you can guess why!) I need to catch up on this series, so if Rapunzel (she's in this) has been mentioned in an episode I haven't seen, sorry._

Chapter two

_Knock…knock…knock! _

Rumpelstiltskin waited, impatiently, outside the home of Dorian Gray. He looked the small house up and down _awfully shabby for someone of his 'status.' _He thought. In his world, Dorian had been a rich playboy; he had inherited so much money that he could live lavishly and never had to work a day in his life. This small dwelling had a coat of black paint which was long overdue for a touch-up. Its tall door was painted green with one broken hinge, and one window was broken, the others were simply unwashed.

Gold impatiently rapped on the door again, this time a young woman answered the door. She was a skinny young woman with pale skin and extremely long blonde hair which she had braided several times. She wore black high heels and an extremely short French maid's dress.

"Oh…" she said, smoothing down her skirt so it covered her a bit more, "hi, Mr. Gold…"

"Hello, Miss Southham?" Asked Gold, unsure of what this woman's name was,

"Southerland" replied the woman "Arabella Southerland."

_Rapunzel… _he thought, glancing at the hair which hung almost all the way to her heels.

"I'm…Dorian's…housekeeper" said Arabella uncomfortably.

"Yes, is Mr. Gray home at the moment?"

"Um…yes…but he's a bit, busy at the moment, so if I could ask you to…"

A shout of "Arabella!" rang through the hall, "Arabella, my dear? Where are you?" It was Dorian's voice.

"Oh no…" sighed Gold, rolling his eyes.

A half-dressed Dorian Gray ran into the hall and saw them at the door. "Who is it?" He asked.

"It's me, Dorian!" Shouted Gold, massaging his temples.

"Oh" said Dorian, he rushed over to the door and wrapped an arm around Arabella's waist. "Hey there Rumple, how are you this evening?" He asked, "sorry, but Arabella and I are a bit, 'preoccupied' at the moment." He said, causing Arabella to nervously giggle.

"Take your time; I'm not getting any _older, _out here." Replied Gold, Dorian's self-satisfied smirk faded a bit. "It's your life, not mine" he said, turning around.

And with that, Dorian dragged Rapunzel-Arabella Southerland back into the house. There was the sound of a wooden object, possibly a small table, falling over and breaking, followed by the sound of two bare-foot young people running up the stairs, shrieking with laughter.

Gold shook his head; _he always was a terrible womanizer. _He sighed, _poor Sybil… _

After several minutes of waiting outside, the door swung open. A fully-clothed if not slightly mussed Dorian came to the door. "Sorry to keep you waiting,"

Gold's only response to that was an utterance which vaguely sounded like "you haven't changed a bit."

He stepped inside without being invited. The inside of the house looked a bit better than the outside. The living room, which this door opened up to, was comfortably furnished. A red sofa accompanied by an armchair of the same color sat across each other and a small black, coffee table had been placed in between the two. A white, standing lamp, which was in desperate need of a good dusting, stood next to the sofa, and a small wine cabinet sat at the back of the room just next to a fireplace.

Dorian walked over to the wine cabinet and opened it "what's your poison?" He asked, pulling out a bottle, "actually, all I've got is scotch, so would you like some scotch?"

"No, thank you" said Gold, Dorian poured himself a glass and sat down on the armchair.

"What did you think of my, 'housekeeper?'" Dorian asked, taking a sip from his glass.

"She's not what I…expected" said Gold, trying his best not to think about French maid's dresses, "I had never met Rapunzel until now."

"Pretty, right?" Laughed Dorian, "good in bed too…"

"Enough" snapped Gold, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "I didn't come here to talk about who you… jump into bed with, Dorian." He pulled out a small vial filled with a syrupy, off-purple liquid.

"Is that for my hand?" Asked Dorian, pulling at the black leather glove which still covered his hand,

"Of course it is." Gold held the vial teasingly in front of Dorian's face. Dorian tried to swipe the vial from Gold; he pulled his hand away.

"Oh, that's right; the terms of our agreement." Sighed Dorian, cocking his head to one side,

"What could you possibly offer me that I would ever want?" Asked Gold,

"What, the pleasure of my company isn't enough?" Dorian scoffed "how about, my eternal gratitude? Or maybe the promise that I won't throw a Molotov cocktail into that shop of yours?" He sipped his whiskey nonchalantly.

"And I could do the same thing to your house; the difference, I could do it from twenty miles away."

Dorian watched the ice swirl around in his glass as he considered this. "Right" he stood and walked to a small bureau at the back of the room "I do have something that might interest you." He opened the drawer and pulled out an object wrapped in red velvet.

"What's that?" Asked Gold, suddenly interested, Dorian unveiled the long object and showed it to Gold. It was a long, decorative knife. The hilt was black and covered with leather which had begun to fray off. The end of the knife was coated in dry blood.

"Do you recognize this?" He asked, twisting the knife in his hand.

Gold nodded slowly "yes." Gold looked back up at Dorian "this is the knife you used to kill Basil Hallward."


End file.
